Honda is somehow feeling shaky, after the Japan tsunami and earthquakes the company has suffered a lot in their sales all over the world. In India too, the company has cut down its production by as much as 50%. Add it to it the dearth of new model launches the company is facing, and the situation becomes even more grill. However, the biggest issue plaguing Honda in recent times is the lack of a good diesel engine in all its mainstream cars.

With the rivals of Japanese carmakers making the most of the recent Japan tragedy Honda seems to be losing rank. Every Honda car has an equal match from the opponents and they also offer a diesel variant. It’s high time Honda plonked in diesel mills in its lineup of cars. Seems like Honda is finally paying heed to what consumers really want as there are talks of the company launching a diesel Honda City. Jnaneswar Sen, senior vice-president (sales & marketing) said that they are working on the diesel engine in Japan which will power the City and it will take another two years. Honda is also worried as the rival car sales are not only catching up, but getting ahead of the City, which is the brand’s primary bread and butter earner for the country. The company also needs to prioritize its efforts bring in big volumes with small cars such as the Brio, the launch of which seems to have been deferred.

With Brio on cards Honda will enter the mass market but if they plan a petrol engine then they will have to face the likes of Chevrolet Beat Diesel which anytime looks a better deal as prices of petrol are expected to shoot by more 4 – 6 rupees. By the time we have the Honda City Diesel coming up, the rivals would have taken the game up a few notches.

We hope the new diesel engine hits the Indian auto market soon enough, as the competition is really hotting up in the City’s segment.

Dyed-in-the-wool motoring enthusiast and internationally published writer. Been around for a bit to be clued in about the latest happenings in the world of crankshafts and pistons. Movie buff, Steve Jobs worshiper, wanderer and philosopher who loves his scotch.
Follow Amit on Twitter @amitchhangani for the freshest auto news, opinions and other random ramblings

Last minute change of plans mostly lead to disappointment, however, for a change, we experienced something contrasting. Five of us, from the office, which included Amit, Ayan, Rohan, Saeed and me were about to pack ourselves in Amit’s hatchback and head to the pristine beaches of Western Maharashtra in search of some brief solitude. As […]

Sitting atop the A5 platform, the RS5 brings relentless ferocity and focus to the table. In an increasingly turbocharged world of sports cars, where even the likes of Ferrari are succumbing to the adulterated idea of forced induction, the RS5 prides itself for being a naturally aspirated machine. Slightly understated, yet unmistakably aggressive, extremely […]

The Hyundai Verna, when it was first introduced back in 2006, was a rather mature looking sedan for its time, which carried a design that did not offend anyone, though it didn’t either manage to evoke any wows. In an interim effort till Hyundai got their fludic lines right, they launched the ‘Transform’ variant, which didn’t look good, […]

A bit of Jetta history The Jetta has been around for ages. Sold over six generations under various aliases in innumerable countries, the relatively small (internationally) family sedan was originally conceived way back in 1979 as a Golf with a boot with some styling tweaks. While Jettas have been traditionally Golf based, the latest Mk VII […]

The world of sports often witnesses great players who earn a name for themselves for their extraordinary talent. Sachin Tendulkar, Pele, Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali are a few great names who changed the history of the games they played with their genius and gained unprecedented honour. Exceptional talents, all of them, and their dedication to their respective […]

Technology is everywhere, in places as private as your pockets and even within the binary laced air that we breathe. It has even made the six degrees of separation theory look obsolete. Look around, and you’ll observe that the entire planet has been flattened for us to see from one end to the other. Connecting […]

Back in the day, post lunch excitement came from Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing, an arcade game which introduced my curious self to the world of truck racing, amazed by how so much bulk can be hustled with grace and pace on the track. Now truck racing is something that Indians are quite alien to. Although a reasonably popular sport […]

As the sun set over the outskirts of Pune, I took one last go at the Kawasaki Z250, the 250R’s street-friendly cousin. I promised myself that it would be the last one for the day. As I winced from the blood gushing back, I cursed the seat and asked myself why I am letting my […]